Student buses pervert jailed

A pervert who groped seven students on buses near their university has been jailed for a year.

Sherif Elsayed, 32, sexually assaulted the young women as they made their way to a Lancaster University campus on public transport.

Police issued witness appeals in relation to two of the attacks and were then contacted by five other women who had been groped by the Egyptian national.

A friend of Elsayed’s brought him to a police station after recognising his face on CCTV footage issued in a press appeal.

Dad-of-one Elsayed, of Cheyney Road, Chester, initially denied the attacks but pleaded guilty to seven counts of sexual assault ahead of a scheduled trial at Preston Crown Court this month.

At the time of the assaults, Elsayed was living at the university’s Bailrigg Campus with his student wife. He was studying engineering at Chester University and carried out the attacks on the buses while travelling home from classes in the early evenings, in late 2011.

Det Con Brian Shepherd of Lancaster CID, who investigated the cases, said Elsayed would sit beside the women on the bus, even when other seats were empty, push himself against them and then touch them as they got up to leave.

He said: “The victims were all young female students aged from 18 to their early 20s.

“As Elsayed grew in confidence, the crimes became more serious.

“A couple of the young women were left quite traumatised by it and the fact it should happen on public transport when they were just making their way home. Some got off a couple of stops early to carry on walking in the dark because they feared for their safety.

“I am pleased with the result at court and would like to pay tribute to the women for coming forward and assisting us, along with Stagecoach and the university.”